Blogs

FirstIgnite and University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) partnered together throughout June and July to increase corporate engagement support for the lead inventor, Todd Emrick, of their reduced polymer flammability technology by creating strong partnerships and collaborations.Organizations like Dow Chemical, Asbury Carbons, Kisuma Chemicals, and many more engaged with the UMass technology transfer team to learn about their work in incorporating monomers into polymer structures.FirstIgnite supports technology transfer teams across the United States, helping to foster growth with industry partners.Connecting Industry and Academia

Campaign Objective:FirstIgnite and Stony Brook University (SBU) partnered together this past Spring to increase corporate engagement support for Dr. Anthony Lubinsky and his team’s portfolio of technologies regarding dual-screen digital radiography.Campaign Methodology:FirstIgnite combined multiple technologies into a single marketing campaign in order to better communicate with potential licensing partners the full scope of SBU’s digital radiography portfolio. This approach increased the reach by expanding the net of total potential companies interested in meeting with the university. Next, FirstIgnite leveraged patents and publications associated with the portfolio in order to identify as many companies and contacts as possible.With this large net of potential licensees identified, FirstIgnite conducted a 30 day marketing campaign, reaching out via email and LinkedIn to over 200 people at 80 companies.Campaign Outcome: FirstIgnite was able to connect the Stony Brook team with organizations around the world, including Anritsu, Esaote, Philips and more. These teams, interested in potential licensing opportunities with Stony Brook, now have a direct one to one feed with SBU staff moving forward into the future and for new collaborations.Partner Quote: "FirstIgnite's efforts were effective in bringing together technologists from the university with counterparts at companies with the resources to develop and commercialize mutually interesting inventions." - Dr. Anthony LubinskyConnecting Industry and Academia

FirstIgnite and the University of Oregon (UO) partnered together this past Spring to increase corporate engagement support for UO’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC), the Center for Big Learning.Organizations like Graphcore, DataRobot, Owkin, and many more engaged with center staff to learn about their work intersecting deep learning, big systems, and big data.“The lifeblood of every IUCRC center is a robust network of affiliate organizations interested in partnering on their research,” says David Melie, Head of Partnerships at FirstIgnite. “To help expand that network and create new potential collaborations is a point of pride for our team.”FirstIgnite supports NSF funded organizations and research facilities across the United States, helping to foster growth with industry partners.Connecting Industry and Academia

FirstIgnite and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have teamed up to increase corporate engage for their technology portfolio including their work in virtual programmable logic controllers (vPLCs)."The Applied Physics Lab is one of the top research institutions in the world and we're grateful for the opportunity to support translating their research into impactful action. APL conducts complex research, across engineering and analytical problems," says Chase Bonhag, FirstIgnite CEO. “We’re proud to partner with an organization solving critical challenges for our nation.”The APL is the first partnership between FirstIgnite and Johns Hopkins. FirstIgnite supports corporate engagement for research facilities across the globe, interested in increasing their technologies reach and influence.Connecting Industry and Academia

FirstIgnite and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are partnering to help increase corporate engagement for INL’s research portfolio, including their work in high powered wireless charging.“The work occurring at INL is world class and world changing,” says FirstIgnite CEO, Chase Bonhag. “We’re proud to be supporting an organization inventing technologies that will make the world a greener, more efficient place.”INL is entering their second engagement with FirstIgnite, having found success with their team for a variety of research engagement needs in 2021. FirstIgnite supports corporate engagement for research facilities across the globe, expanding their international reach.Connecting Industry and Academia

Welcome to our second blog post in our series Connecting Industry & Academia. Any questions or comments? Please reach out through our Contact Us page here.Campaign Objective: The University of California, Davis had a growing number of technologies in their portfolio, with more being added every month, and needed marketing support. With a growing portfolio, they realized partnering with FirstIgnite to set up a consistent technology marketing program would generate new business opportunities throughout the yearApproach: FirstIgnite worked with the university in order to create a plan that worked. This meant taking into account multiple stakeholders, including faculty members, licensing managers and directors. Together, FirstIgnite came up with a strategy to systematically work through the IP portfolio by conducting two marketing campaigns per month. The campaigns would rotate to ensure no licensing manager was overburdened and that the entirety of the portfolio would be supported. With a plan in place, FirstIgnite began prospecting companies and contacts for new technologies every month, executing marketing campaigns, and preparing for the next campaigns. FirstIgnite became an integral part of their team.Result: Consistent marketing efforts led to compounding results. During the next year, UC Davis would meet with over 50 new industry partners, leading to tens of CDA agreements and many relationships moving down the path to licensing. The consistency of outbound, active marketing has played a significant role in driving industry activity across the IP portfolio. The results also led to FirstIgnite supporting additional groups at UC Davis as well as other campuses in the University of California system. Some examples of companies that UC Davis met with through FirstIgnite include: BASF, Cabot, Endo Pharmaceutical, Armacell, Nrgene, Elo Life Systems, S&W Seeds, QuickLogic, Microsoft, and many more.Faculty Quote: “FirstIgnite constantly delivered new industry meetings for technologies across our portfolio, ranging from agriculture, to blood monitoring, to new therapeutics.” - Director of Business Development & Licensing

Welcome to our first blog post in our series Connecting Industry & Academia. Any questions or comments? Please reach out through our Contact Us page here.Campaign Objective:The College of Engineering at Oklahoma State University had recently hired 50 new faculty members. In order to prepare for the future, the college wanted to invest in developing relationships between the newly hired junior faculty and industry partners. FirstIgnite partnered with Oklahoma State University to run targeted marketing campaigns on behalf of the new facultyApproach:First, FirstIgnite selected two faculty members and identified their areas of interest and research history. By leveraging previous publications and areas of interest, FirstIgnite was able to prospect potential companies that would be a good fit. In total, FirstIgnite identified 150 companies to reach out to. Next, FirstIgnite identified contacts at those companies across strategy, innovation, and R&D. With a wide net of potential companies and contacts, FirstIgnite began a series of outbound email marketing campaigns as well as a follow up on LinkedIn to each contact. In total, FirstIgnite approached over 300 professionals.Result:Within 30 days, Oklahoma State University had a busy calendar full of meetings with industry. In total, 15 companies showed interest in meeting with the university and learning more about potential partnership and collaboration opportunities. These meetings are with leadership at companies with the ability to directly fund research on campus. The most important outcome is that the new faculty members now have a rolodex of companies who they are engaged with moving forward. The fastest path to a sponsored research project is a pre-existing relationship the faculty member has. Now, the new faculty members at Oklahoma State University have a strong industry network.Faculty Quote:“FirstIgnite delivers. In the first 30 days of working with FirstIgnite, they brought over 15 companies to our team who were interested in engaging with our faculty.” - Associate Dean of Research

The University of Louisville has turned to FirstIgnite to support corporate engagement for their Micro/Nano Technology Center (MNTC).“The MNTC is a world class facility with capabilities in photolithography, thin film deposition and much more,” says Chase Bonhag, FirstIgnite CEO. “Companies interested in speaking with the Louisville team will be excited at the process potential that the MNTC can provide to their team.”The University of Louisville has partnered with FirstIgnite in the past for corporate engagement for two other on campus facilities; the Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology (AMIST) and the Logistics and Distribution Institute (LODI).Connecting Industry and Academia

FirstIgnite is excited to announce our newest partnership with Drexel University to support a variety of technologies available for licensing.“Beginning with technologies in the fields of bio-rubber and isosorbides, we will have an opportunity to find corporate partners interested in bringing this research to the consumer marketplace,” says Chase Bonhag, FirstIgnite CEO.Drexel University has worked with FirstIgnite in the past to support corporate engagement within its research portfolio.Connecting Industry and Academiawww.FirstIgnite.com

FirstIgnite is proud to announce our newest partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. FirstIgnite is seeking companies interested in partnering on experiential learning opportunities at the intersection of AI, bioinformatics, and medical devices to partner with the biomedical engineering department within the College of Engineering at the university.“Biomedical students at Carnegie Mellon University have been taught by world class faculty,” says Chase Bonhag, FirstIgnite CEO. “Now, thanks to our new partnership with CMU, these students will be able to put what they’ve learned into actionable situations which will help them build real world experience.”This is the newest collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and FirstIgnite, who have partnered in the past to increase corporate engagement for CMU research in the College of Engineering and the Mellon College of Sciences.Connecting Industry and Academia

FirstIgnite is excited to take part in the 2022 SXSW conference from March 11^th to the 13^th in collaboration with Midwest House.“We’re looking forward to exploring new forms of collaboration with companies throughout the Midwest and around the world,” says David Melie, FirstIgnite’s Director of Partnerships. “SXSW has grown into something much more than just an arts and music festival and we’re excited to join the other entrepreneurs at the Midwest House to see what makes Austin weird!”SXSW will be an in-person conference for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FirstIgnite thanks the Midwest House for helping to support their attendance at this year’s conference.

When meeting with companies and corporations, your ability to know them greater than they know themselves is key to having a successful conversation which can lead to meaningful support for your university’s research. Companies need to know quickly how your research will help effect their bottom line, and by coming into the discussion with solid information and understanding of their wants and needs, you’ll know how your team’s research will help keep them in the black.A few points to prepare successfully:Take a look at their website- This one may seem simple, but ignoring a company’s most forward-facing marketing tool does happen, and to the detriment of all involved. All the most basic information on the company’s values and goals can be found on their website, and a well-informed team will be able to get into specific details on content found online that may be directly relevant to your team’s research.Search for recent news articles- Stay up to date! A company’s news section is typically found on their website but a quick search on Google or any other platform will help to ensure that you know the goings on of a company as most up to date as possible. You’ll also be able to get an understanding on other relevant stories happening in the company’s industry. Nothing derails a conversation faster than a mention of negative news or obsolete information.Find comparable products to your research- It doesn’t matter if a company is B2C (business to consumer) or B2B (business to business), you should always understand what they are selling. Getting an understanding of their product portfolio will allow you to form real world comparables between your research and how it can quickly and effectively be incorporated into their business.Understand the roles of everyone who will be on the call, including on your own team- Taking the time to look up all attendees on LinkedIn is a fast and easy way to get a snapshot into their responsibilities at the company before the conversation even begins. Knowing a team member’s role will allow you to quickly assess where seniority resides, and also who the decision maker will be. At the same time, before the conversation begins, make sure you know who will be leading the conversation from your end as well. Speaking over one another leads to confusion, lost time, and at worst, bruised egos.Prepare for the little things to cause big trouble- Small holes sink big ships, and if you don’t prepare for all contingencies, you may find yourself in a tough spot. For example, if you’re doing a Zoom call, be prepared with another teleconferencing service in reserve, or a phone line that all team members can dial into if the internet goes down. If you’re meeting in person, create a schedule the night before to plan for any issues that may come up and slow you down in making it to the discussion.Successfully prepared teams are better able to overcome objections that can end relationships promptly. For some companies, success comes moment to moment, and being prepared to be a part of that success will make ensure you make your moment count.